2016 Summer Paralympics

The 2016 Summer Paralympics, the fifteenth Summer Paralympic Games are an upcoming major international multi-sport event for the disabled governed by the International Paralympic Committee, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from September 7 to September 18, 2016 making them the first Summer Paralympics to be held during the host city's wintertime. This will mark the first time a Latin American and South American city hosts the event, and also the first time a Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country hosts the event.[2]
As part of a formal agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee first established in 2001, the winner of the bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics would also host the 2016 Summer Paralympics.[3] Following the third and final round of voting at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen on October 2, 2009, the right to host the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were awarded to Rio de Janeiro.[4]
2016 Summer Olympics bidding results
City NOC Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
Rio de Janeiro Brazil 26 46 66
Madrid Spain 28 29 32
Tokyo Japan 22 20 —
Chicago United States 18 — —
[edit]Development and preparation
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nine sports. Founded on 22 September 1989 in Dusseldorf, Germany, its mission is To enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire and excite the world. Furthermore, the IPC wants to promote the Paralympic values and to create sport opportunities for all persons with a disability, from beginner to elite level.
The IPC has a democratic constitution and structure and is composed of representatives from 174 National Paralympic Committees (NPC's), four international organizations of sport for the

isabled (IOSD's) and five regional organizations. The IPC's headquarter is located in Bonn, Germany.
On the basis of being able to organize the Paralympic Games more efficiently and to give the Paralympic Movement one voice, the four international organizations combined under the IOSD founded the International Co-ordination Committee of World Sports Organizations for the Disabled (ICC) in 1982. In the upcoming years, other organizations joined and the need for a democratically guided organization emerged, demanded by the nations participating in the Paralympic Movement. They desired a democratic structure, to improve national and regional representation, which led to the foundation of the IPC as we know it today. The 1994 Winter Paralympics, Norway, were the first to be organized by the IPC.
The IPC functions as an umbrella organization, representing several sports and disabilities, in contrast to other international sports organizations for athletes with a disability, which are predominantly limited to a single sport or disability.
The word "Paralympic" derives from the Greek preposition "para" ("beside" or "alongside"). and "Olympics". The first connotation connected to the syllable "para" was paralysis or paraplegia. But since the Paralympics cover different disability groups and the close association to the Olympic Movement, "para" underlines the existence of both movements side by side.
A fifteen-member Governing Board oversees the IPC between meetings of the General Assembly. Dr. Robert D. Steadward became the first President in 1989. Since 2001, Sir Philip Craven is President of the IPC, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee.
The number of athletes and nations participating in the Paralympic Games and thus being part of the Paralympic Movement is constantly increasing, alongside with the audience. Sport for persons with a disability is growing on a national and international level.